‘Conservation Bill lacks enforceable rules’

Press, 18 December 1986, Page 19

‘Conservation Bill lacks enforceable rules’

PA Nelson The Conservation Bill lacks firm, enforceable rules for protecting New Zealand’s natural heritage, according to the director of the Joint Campaign on Native Forests, Mr Guy Salmon. The bill, which sets up the new Department of Conservation, did not even list protection as a function of the new department. “Instead, the bill confers awesome powers on the bureaucracy to decide what will happen to natural resources,” Mr Salmon said.

“The idea of protecting nature for its own sake does not really seem to have been accepted.” The bill, which was introduced in Parliament recently, mentioned protecting wilderness areas but defined “protect” as “improving on nature.” It provided wide powers for felling native trees, planting exotics and doing other things which were beyond the role of a Department of Conservation, Mr Salmon said. He was surprised and dismayed that the Minister of Conservation, Mr Marshall, and his Under-

Secretary, Mr Woollaston, had largely ignored the representations made by conservation organisations about what should be in the bill. “This is a bill drafted by officialdom. It has not had proper attention from the Minister,” Mr Salmon said. “A major effort will have to be made in submissions to the select committee to persuade the Government to change the bill, and we will be calling on our members to help in this.”